Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection

Finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see.

“The myth by no means finds its adequate objectification in the spoken word. The structure of the scenes and the visible imagery reveal a deeper wisdom than the poet himself is able to put into words and concepts” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Warner Home Video has acquired worldwide rights to Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and is preparing two DVD editions of the landmark 1982 science fiction classic.

In September, Warner will release a restored and remastered version of the film's 1992 director's cut, which debuted on DVD in 1997 as one of the first movies to appear on the format. This version of "Runner" will only be available for four months.

Next year, to celebrate the film's 25th anniversary, Warner will release "Blade Runner: The Final Cut," which it is billing as Scott's "definitive new version" of the film. After a limited theatrical release, the newly spruced-up "Runner" will be released in a multidisc special edition DVD that also will include the original theatrical cut, the expanded international theatrical cut and the 1992 director's cut.

"This is clearly Ridley's signature film, and we are thrilled to have it back," Warner senior vp and general manager of theatrical catalog Jeff Baker said.

He said that while specifics about the two DVD editions will be announced later, Warner wanted to announce its release plans early "to get this great news to the many serious film buffs and ardent 'Blade Runner' fans who have been so patient, despite besieging us with thousands of annual requests in recent years for new 'Blade Runner' DVDs."

" 'Blade Runner: The Director's Cut' was one of the very first titles to be released on DVD, and so it came out before optimal formatting standards had been established," said Doug Pratt, editor of the DVD-LaserDisc Newsletter. "Shortly afterwards, it went into moratorium. The early adopters who bought the title have long since wished to see it upgraded, while other fans, who came into DVDs later on, have been unable to find it at all. It is the only 'big' sci-fi spectacle currently unavailable on DVD."

"Runner" stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos and Daryl Hannah and won plaudits -- as well as two Oscar nominations -- for its dark, bleak vision of the future. Ford heads the cast as Rick Deckard, a futuristic cop -- the film is set in 2019 Los Angeles -- who needs to kill four errant human clones who hijack a space ship back to Earth after escaping from exile in an off-world colony.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

[WARNER] The Tyrell Corporation is furiously working away on a release to knock your socks off before the holiday season. The contents are still being formulated. All the different iterations of the film will be available, including the new FINAL CUT. We think you'll be very pleased, and it will have been worth the wait!

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Joanna Cassidy, one of the original stars of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, posted a cryptic note on her official Web site: She said she has finished reshooting her scenes in the film.

"Joanna has just finished reshooting her scenes from the original Blade Runner," the site reported. "Joanna is wearing her original outfit (which she kept over from the first production). These new scenes will be part of the upcoming special Blade Runner DVD re-release. Check back for more details."

It's not clear whether the new scenes will be incorporated into a new, final cut by director Scott, who has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the 1992 director's cut of the movie. It's also unclear whether Scott is doing other reshoots.

The film's 1982 theatrical cut was famously carved up by the studio and producers and released with a since-much-reviled voice-over.

For the film's 25th anniversary this year, a special new DVD set of the movie is planned.

Cassidy played Zhora, one of the movie's "replicants," or androids, who meets her demise at the hands of "Blade Runner" Harrison Ford.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Consider this a rumor, but it's definitely worth mentioning: Those of you interested in a possible sneak peek at some of what's in store for you in Warner's Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection (due later this year on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray) might want to head over to this link at the Australian DVD retail site, ezydvd.com. There's tentative DVD cover art and a list of some of what the 5-disc set is likely to include. IF it's the real deal, fans of the film can look forward to Ridley Scott's all-new 2007 cut of the film, along with every previous version of the film including the 1982 theatrical and international cuts, the 1992 "director's cut" and the infamous work print version of the film (the "Nuart/Dallas/Denver" cut). There's also the 2000 Channel Four documentary on the making of the film, On the Edge of Blade Runner, as well as an all-new Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner documentary and much more. All of it comes packaged in what looks like a replica of the VK machine case, and comes with mini replicas of the Spinner, Gaff's unicorn origami and more. Warner's mum on all this right now, and we don't expect this page on ezydvd.com to stay up for long, so check it out while you can. Warner will likely announce the title officially sometime in the next couple of months, so if any of this IS real, it's proof that they're cooking up a damn nice package indeed. We'll post more when we can.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

I had the lucky fortune to attend a Battlestar Galactica event in Los Angeles tonight, but the one explosive shell to come out of it was Edward James Olmos really putting the screws to Harrison Ford over Blade Runner.

According to Olmos, "Blade Runner was supposed to have sequels." Thankfully he doesn't mean the god-awful "Blade Runner 2" novel (and subsequent series of books) that was written years after the first film, but my geeky brain really wishes we would've seen those sequels. Why didn't we?

Olmos tossed down the gauntlet and then did the fandango on top of it by telling us all, "Blade Runner failed because of Harrison Ford." Whoa! I felt like I'd been slapped across the face when I heard that one, and then I checked to make sure I was awake. He went on to explain that since Harrison's fans had seen him in the Star Wars movies, and as Indiana Jones, they'd come to expect a certain type of performance from him. When they saw him in Blade Runner in a role that "required him to think a lot, his fans threw up all over it."

Wow. Now, it can't be argued that Blade Runner wasn't a box office failure, because it was. However, it's become such a cult classic, and a favorite of both science fiction and Harrison Ford fans, that Olmos' words seem pretty inflammatory. I guess Blade Runner 2 is really off the horizon now. Think this'll be a DVD extra?

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol